"Hi, I'm Tony Zarrella." The salesman in the brown suit
introduces himself, then launches into his pitch.

"Minimum 19-inch seats!" he says. A video screen that is "a
sight to behold!" "Living-room quality accommodations."
"Gracious lobby space." All in all, "your experience will
be one of luxury!" "Take advantage of this opportunity
now!"

The KUSA sportscaster is featured in a lavish, custom-made
commercial, Fed Ex'd to 24,000 season-ticket holders last
week, promoting the purchase of seats in the new football
stadium. Zarrella appears on camera coaching fans to spring
for expensive club-level seats in the coming season. "As
you can see, the club level is the place to be."

In an appalling breach of journalistic ethics, Zarrella has
loaned whatever credibility he had as a local sports anchor
to the task of sales. He is hawking seats on behalf of a
team he is assigned to cover.

"Reserve now before they're gone!" Zarrella says on camera.

KUSA News Director Patti Dennis denies there is any
conflict. "I don't see it as a commercial," she said
Monday. "We find it informational. I would disagree that
Tony became a spokesman for the team."

Zarrella, sports anchor at KMGH from 1995 to 1998, joined
KUSA in April 1999 as weekend sports anchor. Last month he
was given the title of main sports anchor. He did not
return calls for comment.

The slick video, roughly 10 minutes in length, was produced
by KUSA with additional animation by an outside firm.
Neither Zarrella nor KUSA was paid.

"It was done in-kind as part of being closely associated
with the team," KUSA's Dennis said.

The video includes computer-generated graphics to make the
unfinished stadium look populated. Editing magic shows fans
inside the club level, making purchases at a concession
stand and meeting one another.

"The excitement of the game will rush to greet you ...,"
Zarella says. The substantially more expensive club level
seats can be had at a discount if purchased before July 20,
he notes.

Taints organization

Zarrella got a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism
from Emerson College in Boston. He should have been taught
that reporters - even TV news anchors - don't do
commercials for subjects they may end up covering. That
includes promotional videos. The idea is to keep the
relationship pure: A sports reporter must be free to
question and criticize the organization, the team,
even the stadium.

What next? Paula Woodward doing infomercials for the city
of Denver about hard-working municipal employees? We won't
hold our breath. But the Zarrella appearance taints the
entire station as a news organization. If news is to be
something more than marketing and advertising, the line
between commercials and journalism must be honored.

"I don't think it's an implied or direct endorsement,"
Dennis said. She likens KUSA's participation to its ability
to objectively raise questions about Ocean Journey's
treatment of animals, even though the station
was a philanthropic contributor.

Does the Zarrella commercial compromise KUSA's objectivity?
It certainly raises questions about the station's
journalistic independence and priorities. Viewers' can't be
blamed for perceiving Zarrella as less a
journalist than a fan - if not part of the Broncos
marketing department - after this performance.